document iconmyCSUSM
cougar courses logoCOUGAR COURSES
email iconEMAIL
email iconMS OFFICE APPS
password iconPASSWORD
MANAGEMENT
Your  Account:
document iconmyCSUSM
cougar courses logoCOUGAR COURSES
email iconEMAIL
office iconMS OFFICE APPS
password iconPASSWORD
MANAGEMENT
Instructional and Information Technology Services (IITS)

Background & FAQs

Why are we moving to Canvas?

The Governor’s 2021-22 budget allocated $2 million in the ongoing general fund specifically for the migration of all CSUs to a common learning management platform, Canvas, by Fall 2023. This funding has been accepted by the Office of the Chancellor with the anticipation that the seven CSUs that were not already on Canvas would utilize these funds to migrate. The funding must be used by the campuses who haven’t yet migrated to implement Canvas by Fall 2023.

Who made the decision?

  • In December 2021, Academic Senate referred TPAC (Technology Policy & Advisory Committee) to recommend procedures/timeline/processes for a transition to Canvas.
  • On March 16, 2022 TPAC provided their report to Senate. In it, they recommended CSUSM migrate to Canvas with a planned implementation date for Canvas campus‐wide of Fall 2022.
  • On April 6th, 2022 Academic Senate passed the resolution to implement Canvas in Fall 2022.

When are we moving to Canvas?

All courses are expected to be in Canvas by Fall 2022. 

FAQs

Note: These FAQs are related to the transition to Canvas. FAQs on using Canvas can be found here.

General

Show All
  • How can I get support?

    Canvas has 24x7 support that you can reach from within Canvas. Select Help at the bottom of the global navigation on the left, then choose either Canvas Support Hotline or Chat with Canvas Support. 

    You can also visit the IITS Canvas Support page to view all available support options.

  • What will the Canvas LMS be called?
    • The campus LMS will be referred to as Cougar Courses. 
    • For Summer 2022 Cougar Courses will refer to Moodle.
    • For Fall 2022 Cougar Courses will refer to Canvas.

Timeline & Migration

Show All
  • Can I get access to Canvas now?

    Yes! Canvas is already available to instructors to begin to explore and prepare for the coming semesters. Login to Canvas using your CSUSM username and password.

  • When will my Fall 2022 courses be added to Canvas?

    IITS is working with the Chancellor's Office on the process that will load courses and faculty into Canvas. We are anticipating Fall 2022 courses will be added the first week of August.

    [Update: Fall 2022 courses were added the first week of August.]

    However we recommend starting to build your courses right away using sandbox/development containers. Once official containers are created you can easily import your content from the development container into your Fall 2022 course container. Please see the response below on getting a development container in Canvas.

  • When will my students be loaded into my Fall courses?

    IITS is working with the Chancellor's Office on the process that will load courses and students into Canvas. This process will be pulling information out of MyCSUSM (Peoplesoft) and updating course rosters in Canvas daily. We are anticipating students will be added beginning mid August.

    [Update: Students were first loaded on August 11th. Canvas course enrollments are being updated once a day.]

    In addition to their registered courses, students will also be added to a course that will introduce them to Canvas.

  • Can I get a development container in Canvas?

    Yes! You can create as many development containers in Canvas as you need. How to create a Development course in Canvas  

    Once Fall 2022 containers are created you can easily import that content into your Fall course.

  • Will my Moodle courses be migrated to Canvas? If so, when?

    We have contracted with a vendor called K16 solutions to migrate courses from Fall 2019 to Spring 2022 during phase one. If possible, they will migrate courses from Fall 2016 to Summer 2019 during phase two.

    We anticipate this migration being completed by early August. [Update: this migration is going more slowly than anticipated due to technical issues and it still currently underway.]

    If you cannot wait, you can manually move your own content from Moodle to Canvas. You can choose to migrate content directly into your Fall 2022 course or create a Development course and migrate the content there. We recommend creating a development container to allow you to see how the content came over and decide how to proceed. Once ready you can easily import that content into your Fall course.

    Please see the responses below for questions on what will and will not be migrated, how to migrate content manually, how to fix up migrated content, and how to access your old courses.

  • What is being migrated?

    Courses from Fall 2019 to Spring 2022 will be migrated first. If possible, then courses from Fall 2016 to Summer 2019 will be migrated.

    The majority of resources (files, external URLs, etc.) and the major activities (Assignment, Quiz, and Forum) will migrate successfully into Canvas. However, some activities will migrate, but will need to be adjusted, and some activities will simply not migrate. Please see our Equivalencies Chart to gain an understanding of which activities will migrate as-is, which will need some adjustment, and which will not migrate at all.

    If you encounter issues/have questions about migration, first check our Canvas FAQs page and then reach out to canvashelp@csusm.edu  

  • What won't be migrated?

    Please see our Equivalencies Chart to determine which activities and resources will migrate as-is, which will need some adjustment, and which will not migrate at all.

    A few other things that will not migrate:

    • Student data such as forum posts, grades, etc.
    • There may be courses that have individual files that are larger than 256MB that may not be migrated.
    • Audio/Video files (MP4 files, not links) will also not be migrated due to size and migration constraints.

    If you encounter issues/have questions about migration, first check our Canvas FAQs page and then reach out to canvashelp@csusm.edu 

  • I need the migrated content now, but I don't see it in Canvas yet. Can I migrate it myself?

    Yes, absolutely! You can manually move your own content from Moodle to Canvas. You can choose to migrate content directly into your Fall 2022 course or create a Development course and migrate the content there. We recommend creating a development container to allow you to see how the content came over and decide how to proceed. Once ready you can easily import that content into your Fall course.

  • What do I need to do to use the content migrated from Moodle?

    Depending on your course organization/structure and the activities you used in Cougar Courses, the migrated course in Canvas might need very little adjustment, or it could need significant adjustment in which case it might be easier and faster to build from scratch. Once your content has been migrated you should review and choose to either adjust this migrated content or rebuild your course. For more information, please see our Conversion Process Guide. 

    If you encounter issues/have questions about migration, first check our Canvas FAQs website and then reach out to canvashelp@csusm.edu 


Access to Moodle and Community

Show All

Canvas Features

Show All